Cedar Rapids Man Surprised by $10,000 Lottery Win

CLIVE, Iowa — A Cedar Rapids man said he did a double-take after scratching off a $10,000 lottery prize.

"I figured it was $100, $150," David Younke said with a laugh on Tuesday as he claimed his prize at the Iowa Lottery's Cedar Rapids regional office. "Then I scanned it on my phone and it was like, 'That isn't right!' I had to scan it three times to realize that it was real."

Younke, 59, won the big prize playing the "$300,000 Cashword" scratch game. He bought his ticket at Hy-Vee, 3235 Oakland Road NE in Cedar Rapids, brought it home and threw it on the counter, where it was buried over the coming days by a pile of junk mail.

Younke said he went to clean up later that week. That's when he found the ticket, decided to scratch it and realized his good fortune.

"It's an unbelievable feeling," he said. "It's like, 'This can't be real,' someone pulling a fast one on me."

After claiming his prize, Younke said he plans to use his winnings to pay off some bills and put some toward his son's wedding next year.

"And then, who knows? I may take a trip — somewhere warm over wintertime," he added.

The $300,000 Cashword game is a $30 scratch game that features 14 top prizes of $300,000, 137 prizes of $10,000 and overall odds of 1 in 2.28. For more information about this game, and the number of prizes still available, visit www.ialottery.com.